Restaurants

Osteria Wolf

Osteria Wolf | Stoke Newington Italian

Italian food.

There are more than a fusilli puns to be made.

So instead we’ll get on and tell you about one of the best places to find it: it’s called Osteria Wolf, and it’s a smart ’60s-styled Italian eatery on Stoke Newington High Street, sporting olive green panels, mid-century chairs and marble-topped tables, with soft retro lighting hanging over the banquettes. In its early days, the kitchens were headed up by ex-Polpo and The Ivy chef, Mattia Antonioni, but have since been left in the capable hands of former Petersham Nurseries chef, Karla Knowles.

She’s started off her reign with the introduction of a new midsummer menu to reflect the seasonality that’s so central to Italian cooking. Which means you can tuck into starters like mini pizza topped with speck, gorgonzola and sage, or cuttlefish braised with ‘Nduja, chickpeas and squid ink, before moving onto mains like bavette steak with roasted beetroot, horseradish and samphire; pork ragu, fennel and parmesan pappardelle; or san marzano tomatoes served with Castellucio lentils, ricotta and basil. And if you’ve any room after all that, there’s fig and almond upside down cake, proper gelato, or a boozy affogato to see it all off – or, if you prefer, a digestif cocktail like the Colombo Martini, made with Siete Mysterious Mezcal and salted caramel spray…

…which goes nicely with the bar’s other offerings of wine, Japanese whiskies, and house pineapple tequila.

Orzo we hear.

NOTE:Osteria Wolf is now open Tues-Sun, and you can reserve a table online HERE.